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St Martin was an early Christian Saint from Hungary who served in the Roman army and later became bishop of Tours in France. This drawing illustrates one of the most commonly represented incidents from St Martin’s life, which occurred one winter while he was serving with the army in Gaul. St Martin had encountered an old beggar freezing in the cold and took out his sword to divide his military cloak in two to share it with the man. That night, Christ appeared to St Martin in a dream wearing the portion of the cloak that he had given away. This drawing is very close to an altarpiece of the same subject that was executed by Palma’s pupil Camillo Rama for the parish church of Zanano di Sarezzo in 1609. It is likely that Palma made this drawing to assist his pupil.

Palma was born into a Venetian family of artists. His father Antonio ran a successful workshop, and his great uncle was the renowned painter Palma Vecchio. In spite of this, Palma Giovane was virtually self-taught. In 1567 he caught the eye of the Duke of Urbino, whose patronage allowed him to study in Rome. There, Palma embraced the practice of making preparatory drawings (disegno), a custom that was traditionally associated with central Italy. He returned to Venice in the mid-1570s, where his blend of naturalism and moderate Mannerist exaggeration became popular. Palma’s work increasingly reflected his appreciation of the Venetian masters, particularly Jacopo Tintoretto. Following Tintoretto’s death in 1594, Palma became the city’s leading painter.